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Concern with Upgrading

Scrubby
By Scrubby
in CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory
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Hello, everyone!

 

My concern is about the fact that I am trying to upgrade my computer. Essentially changing the most important components (CPU,MOTHERBOARD,GPU). My question is when I upgrade the MOBO and CPU, can I boot from the same OS drive as before or I have to reinstall. I also heard that if I have any drives where you don't have anything related to windows, I can just unplug them before turning on the computer to make sure everything is fine with the OS and then just plugged them in and I will have all my files. (If you can confirm this.) 

 

I am upgrading from i5-8600K on GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS GAMING 3 to i5-13600KF on GIGABYTE Z690 GAMING X DDR4. I am just worried if there is gonna be problems with drivers for the CPU and MOBO. I don't have anything on my Boot Drive, apart from windows. Just don't want to lose all my info on the other drives.

 

 

Thanks for the help 🙂

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The OS drive will fine, but you’ll need to reactivate windows once it’s loaded. For this you’ll need you windows key.

 

Unplugging drives is a thing people do when installing or reinstalling operating systems. If reactivation goes well, then you shouldn’t need to reinstall, so you shouldn’t need to unplug drives.

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticeably improve performance past 240mm and don't improve at all past 360mm. 9) RTFM.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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5 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

The OS drive will fine, but you’ll need to reactivate windows once it’s loaded. For this you’ll need you windows key.

 

Unplugging drives is a thing people do when installing or reinstalling operating systems. If reactivation goes well, then you shouldn’t need to reinstall, so you shouldn’t need to unplug drives.

Alright, that is if I can find my key, but that's not a problem I can buy a new one.

But don't you think there is gonna be problems with the drivers?

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1 minute ago, Scrubby said:

Alright, that is if I can find my key, but that's not a problem I can buy a new one.

But don't you think there is gonna be problems with the drivers?


Windows will sort all that usually. It does normally leave the old drivers behind which is why it is considered cleaner to do a fresh install of windows but it isn’t typically required.

 

If you safer doing it you could back up any important files from your OS drive and unplug other drives. I don’t think it’s really required but if it makes you feel more comfortable during thr upgrade it can only be good. 🙂 

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticeably improve performance past 240mm and don't improve at all past 360mm. 9) RTFM.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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5 minutes ago, will0hlep said:


Windows will sort all that usually. It does normally leave the old drivers behind which is why it is considered cleaner to do a fresh install of windows but it isn’t typically required.

 

If you safer doing it you could back up any important files from your OS drive and unplug other drives. I don’t think it’s really required but if it makes you feel more comfortable during thr upgrade it can only be good. 🙂 

Yea I think I am gonna reset Windows 11 to be absolutely sure any of the old drivers interfere with the new ones. But if I reset my PC I will have to unplug the drives to save my games and other stuff and just leave the OS drive, correct?

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41 minutes ago, will0hlep said:


Windows will sort all that usually. It does normally leave the old drivers behind which is why it is considered cleaner to do a fresh install of windows but it isn’t typically required.

 

If you safer doing it you could back up any important files from your OS drive and unplug other drives. I don’t think it’s really required but if it makes you feel more comfortable during thr upgrade it can only be good. 🙂 

And you reckon there is not gonna be any problems after i replug the other drives?

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3 hours ago, Scrubby said:

Yea I think I am gonna reset Windows 11 to be absolutely sure any of the old drivers interfere with the new ones. But if I reset my PC I will have to unplug the drives to save my games and other stuff and just leave the OS drive, correct?

If your looking to be clean, reinstall with a new usb image, don’t reset. Reseting windows doesn’t really clean much up and won’t really be any better than doing nothing.

 

The issue with reinstalling is you’ll also need to reinstall all programs.

 

The data on your drives will be fine In either case and the drives should be detected as normal when you plug them back in. However, if you reinstall windows programs will not be detected by windows. They’ll still be on the drive, they just won’t be in the registry.

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticeably improve performance past 240mm and don't improve at all past 360mm. 9) RTFM.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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